Tailpiece mounting for self-playing violins



A1181 5, 1929 c. P. CORWIN TAILPIECE MOUNTING FOR SELF PLAYING VIOLINSOriginal Filed March 16, 1927.

Elnuzmfoz (t 1 Caifwiru.

Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

UNITED STATES CHARLES I. CORWIN, 0F BROWNWOOD, TEXAS.

TAILPIEGE MOUNTING FOR SELF-PLAYIN G VIOLINS.

Original application filed March 16, 1927, Serial No. 175,782. Dividedand this application filed February This application is a division of anapplication, Serial No. 175,782, filed by me March 16, 199.7, thepresent invention relating to the mounting for the tailpiece of aself-playing violin whereby the tailpiece may be easily attached ordetached when necessary, will be firmly held in place when attached, andwill be permitted to vibrate to attain desired tremolo eiiects. Theinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and will behereinafter fully set forth and defined.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much of a violin and its support asis necessary to an understanding of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a view of the support with the violin removed, and

Fig. 4; is a detail section through the tailpiece mounting.

In the drawing, the numeral 10 denotes a shelf which is secured rigidlywithin a suitable casing and upon which a bed plate 11 is fixed, thetail end of the violin body 13 resting on a pad 15 of felt or similarmaterial at the "foot of a standard or bracket 12 which rises from thebed plate. Within the standard 12 are clamping rods provided at theirupper ends with heads 17 projecting over the top of the violin body andprovided on their under faces with pads 18 so that contact of metal withthe violin body is avoided. The strings 63 are attached to the tailpiece64, as indicated at 65, in the usual or any convenient manner.

The tailpiece 64 is disposed over the central longitudinal line of theviolin body and on its underside is provided with a pendent hook or lug67 having a notch 68 in its front side, the said hook or lug beingadapted to enter between lugs or ears 69 on the upper side of the post12 and engage with a pivot pin 70 mounted transversely between the saidlugs 69 and supported thereby. The tailpiece will thus be pivotally orrockingly mounted upon the post and, in order to prevent accidentaldetachment of the tailpiece, a ball 71 is mounted in a socket 7 2 formedin the tailpiece, the upper end of the socket being closed by a plug 73and a spring 74 being disposed within the socket between the plug andthe ball so as to press the ball to the lower end of the socket. It willbe understood that the lower end of the socket is contracted slightly sothat, while the ball may project through the same, it cam Serial No.257,660.

not escape therefrom. hen the tailpiece is moved forwardly so that thenotch 68 will ride into engagement with the pivot pin 70, the ball willbe pressed upwardly but as soon as the notch clears the center of thepin 70 the ball will spring outwardly so as to engage the pin andthereby retain the tailpiece thereon.

The outer end of the tailpiece is extended beyond the tail end of theviolin body and is formed with a laterally extending notch 75 whereby itmay be engaged with a tremolo mechanism, indicated at 80. The tailpieceis also provided with an opening 78 therethrough to permit the insertionof the ad justing pin 21, which controls the clamping heads 17, whennecessary. It will thus be seen that the tailpiece not only serves as asupport for the outer or rear ends of the violin strings but is alsorockingly mounted and will be constantly oscillated through a small areas the machine operates, thereby obtaining a tremolo action. Thistremolo action is very desirable in violin playing and by providing thetremolo mechanism I am enabled to obtain the same effect when a longnote is played as when a violin is played by hand. On short notes, thetremolo effect is not noticeable.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In a self-playing violin, the combination of a post, a violin havingone end supported by said post, a pin carried by the upper end of thepost, a tailpiece provided on its upper side with a depending hook toengage said pin, and a spring-pressed detent mounted in the tailpiece toengage said pin and retain the tailpiece in engagement therewith.

2. The combination of a support for a violin body, a transverse pincarried by the upper end of the support above the violin body, and atailpiece detachably pivoted on said pin and extending longitudinallyover the violin body.

3. The combination of a support for a violin body, a transverse pincarried by the upper end of the support above the violin body, atailpiece engaged with said pin to rock thereon, and yieldable means forretaining the tailpiece in engagement with the pm.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

